Hot Topics:

Cases face dismissal in probe of informant in Lowell

By Lisa Redmond, lredmond@lowellsun.com

Updated:
04/23/2013 08:15:49 AM EDT

LOWELL -- As investigators continue to probe the Lowell Police Department's use of confidential informants, which has already led to the dismissal of eight criminal cases, a cocaine-distribution case and a marijuana case may now be in jeopardy.

In Lowell District Court on Monday, defense attorney Stephen Rappaport, representing Angel Manuel Luna, told a judge that Lowell Police Detective Thomas Lafferty testified at a motion hearing in the Luna case, but now Lafferty is not allowed to testify at any trials due to the probe.

Luna, 37, of Lowell, was arrested in January 2012 after firefighters responded to a fire at 40 St. Paul St. and reportedly smelled more than just wood burning.

Investigators allegedly found a large-scale marijuana operation, with 44 pounds of packaged marijuana, along with 29 plants, weighing about 45 to 50 pounds. Police say it is valued at about $150,000 on the street.

A status hearing in the case is scheduled for May 13.

Last Thursday, attorneys representing Estabin Lugo, Dennis Rivera and Abigail Rivera argued their case may be linked to Lafferty's use of a controversial confidential informant and should be dismissed.

Defense attorney Robert Normandin said he and he other attorneys in the case are expecting an answer shortly as to whether this case is linked to the probe.

Lugo and the Riveras have pleaded not guilty to charges of distribution of a Class B drug with intent to distribute (two counts) and conspiracy to violate the drug law.

Advertisement

A May 17 status hearing is scheduled on the case.

The Sun reported April 4 that the Middlesex District Attorney's Office decided to dismiss seven Superior Court criminal cases that were developed, at least in part, on information one informant gave to Lafferty.

State Police spoke to the informant, who allegedly made statements that incriminated himself and established him immediately as an "unreliable'' informant.

The source told The Sun the informant told atate police he was good at "planting stuff." Police have since severed ties with the informant.

Last week, the Middlesex District Attorney's Office turned the probe over to the Essex DA's office "to avoid any potential conflicts and/or the appearance of a conflict.''

Six of the Superior Court cases involve cocaine possession and one charge of illegal possession of a firearm. Earlier this month, a District Court case involving Titus N. Kuria was added to the list of cases compromised by the confidential informant, increasing the number of compromised cases to eight.

According to court documents, when Kuria was arrested in October 2011 for carrying a firearm, it was based on information given to Lafferty by his informant.

Kuria, 40, of Lowell, was held on bail that was reduced to $100 from $2,500 set at his arraignment -- until the case was dropped by the Middlesex District Attorney's Office on April 10, nearly 18 months later.

"It is in the interests of justice due to the new information discovered regarding a confidential informant,'' prosecutor Emily Jackson wrote in her April 3 motion in Lowell District Court.

According to court documents, Lafferty wrote that in the week before Kuria's Oct. 11, 2011, arrest, he spoke to a "past reliable informant'' regarding a man named Titus who was in possession of a firearm he was trying to sell.

Lafferty identified the informant as "CIX,'' whose true identy is "known to my immediate supervisor as well as other members of the special investigation section.''

CIX has "provided information in the past which has led to the seizures of firearms, drugs, money and arrests,'' Lafferty wrote.

Lafferty wrote that CIX, a paid informant, told him Kuria was frequenting local bars, one in particular, trying to sell a firearm. Lafferty conducted surveillance near the bar.

At 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 11, 2011, Lafferty located Kuria's blue Dodge Stratta outside the bar. The car was registered to Kuria.

Lafferty spotted Kuria leaving the bar with a plastic bag in his right hand, get into his car and drive away.

The car was stopped for an expired registration.

After Kuria was removed from the vehicle, police discovered a plastic bag with a .32-caliber handgun wrapped in a sock on the front passenger seat, according to court documents.

Defense attorney Paul King argued in court documents that police had no proof who placed the gun in the car, suggesting Kuria didn't know the gun was there. King also asked for the identity of the confidential informant, but never got any of that information.

In denying King's motion, Judge James Barretto wrote that Lafferty is "trained in the use of confidential informants including how to question informants, safety issues, and reliability issues.''

"The informant was personally known to the detective,'' Barretto wrote.

Lafferty worked with this confidential informant more than 50 times, with 75 percent of those interactions resulting in arrests. Fifty percent of those resulted in pleas or jail.

Barretto also noted that the informant's description of Kuria and his actions seemed accurate.

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sun. So keep it civil.